4th April 2014: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced today Loughborough University as its official Innovation Partner. The partnership will deliver significant added value to the FIH as well as driving innovation in the sport of hockey. The FIH will look to utilise the significant expertise and resource of Loughborough University to proactively driver its strategic objectives and expand its delivery capability. The announcement of this partnership puts the FIH at the forefront of pioneering leaders in this field as the only International Federation to have a dedicated Innovation Centre.
A key project of the partnership will be to work towards the development of a new and dynamic, entertainment-focussed complementary game designed to help hockey reach new markets.
The highly-acclaimed School of Business and Economics will also be a key contributor and will assist the FIH to develop a strategic ten-year plan that will run from 2014 to 2024. Today’s announcement follows from the FIH’s recent decision to change the game from two halves to four quarters, a move which will improve the quality and flow of the game in time for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
FIH CEO Kelly Fairweather said, “We are delighted to enter into this Innovation Partnership with such a well-respected and talented organisation. I have been incredibly impressed by the scale and standard of design innovation and insight research on offer, matched by the high levels of staff dedication and talent. I am really looking forward to working with Loughborough University to develop our sport to reach more people.”
Loughborough University will provide expertise from their Sports Development Centre; Sport Technology Institute; School of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences; School of Business and Economics, as well as their Design School to help the FIH improve hockey for both players and fans. Loughborough University is renowned for sport. Much of this reputation has been built on academic excellence, delivering on research and innovation with an extensive range of sporting bodies including Olympic and Paralympic committees, commercial brands, national governing bodies and international federations.
